When a US fighter jet went down in Iran, a colonel was left behind, but not for long. The officer used his beacon and secure communications device to evade capture for nearly 48 hours, before being rescued in a daring operation.
The colonel, who has been identified as a colonel, landed in mountainous terrain in southwestern Iran, where he used his survival skills to stay alive. He moved to elevated ground, taking cover in a mountain crevice, and eventually hiked up a ridgeline that rose to 7,000 feet.
Throughout his evasion, Iranian forces, including units from the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps and the Basij paramilitary force, were actively searching for him. The Iranian government even put out a public call for citizens to help locate the 'enemy pilot' and offered a reward.
US forces, including the CIA, ran a separate operation to convince Iranian forces that the search had already found the airman, and that he was being moved out of the country in a ground convoy. The aim was to redirect Iranian attention away from his actual location.
Once the colonel was located, the CIA shared his exact coordinates with the Pentagon and the White House. Trump ordered an immediate rescue mission, which involved hundreds of special operations personnel, dozens of aircraft, and cyber, space, and intelligence capabilities working in coordination.
The Navy SEAL Team Six carried out the extraction, supported by US Air Force men and multiple layers of combat support for cover and evasion. The airman was put on a plane and flown out, and Trump announced within hours that US forces had conducted 'one of the most daring Search and Rescue Operations in U.S. History'.
